Electron microscopic study using formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded material, with special reference to observation of microbial organisms and endocrine granules

Abstract

In the diagnostic pathology practice, specimens for electron microscopy (EM) are not necessarily handled and fixed under the ideal condition. In the present article, the author describes ultrastructural study using formalin-fixed and/or paraffin-embedded material. The fine morphologic preservation is often acceptable, particularly when small cubes are dug out of paraffin blocks. Particulate structures such as neuroendocrine granules and microbes are consistently observed even using paraffin sections. Paraffin sections signalized with silver particles in Grimelius and Grocott stains or diaminobenzidine products in immunostaining and in situ hybridization are applicable to EM evaluation by using a pre-embedding sequence. The practical merit includes the targeted approach: highly accurate sampling from focal lesions can be achieved for EM analysis, after observing hematoxylin and eosinstained or specific-signalized paraffin-sections. This allows us pathologists a convenient and practical way for identifying focally infected pathogens, as well as a retrospective ultrastructural analysis of rare lesions long kept as a form of paraffin blocks.